Monday, May 9, 2016

Spring Migration is ON! :-)


I made it to the park today, taking advantage of the break from rain.  And I'm so glad I did!  It was one of those birds-everywhere days that are such treasures.  My first official greeter was this black-throated blue who waited through a lot of out-of-focus pictures to give me a little over-the-shoulder flirting.
black-throated blue warbler
 Several warblers declined to be photographed, and then this cuckoo popped up for no particular reason.  And then disappeared and reappeared several time.  Thanks Buddy!
yellow-billed cuckoo
 The adults are not my favorites, but goslings are irresistibly adorable.
Canada goose
 Orioles!  They were fast and gorgeous!
Baltimore oriole
 There were 2 pairs of orioles flirting it up.  It looks like a great place for a nest to me, but of course I'm not an oriole.
Baltimore oriole
 Tanager in the sun!
scarlet tanager
 I saw an ovenbird who left frustratingly quickly, and this waterthrush was waiting for me as I searched for the ovenbird.
waterthrush
 Mystery thrush.  Probably either hermit (I did see one of those for-pretty-sure) or a grey-cheeked (others reported these).  I'm still not great at figuring out thrushes.

Tomorrow maybe I'll make it to turtle pond where apparently it was awesome also!  :-)




Monday, April 25, 2016

A day with a pretty good walk and lots of balcony time


I love this balcony.  Like, I mean, I **love** it.  Did I show you the balcony yet?  I mean, not the actual balcony, but the view?  It's incredible!



Oh, yeah, and there are sometimes birds here, too.

rufous-tailed hummingbird

blue-grey tanager

roadside hawk

Eventually we managed to go for a walk, down the nature trail.  It was not super-birdy, but we did find the one I was hoping for!  Oh, and we also saw a mystery hummingbird that I *think* was a purple-crowned fairy.  :-)


golden-naped woodpecker

agouti

black-hooded antshrike

chestnut-backed antbird

This is the luckiest trail ever - 4-leaf clover everywhere!  :-)

More balcony time.  Another sloth.  This place is amazing.




Sunday, April 24, 2016

Back in Costa Rica!


We woke up in beautiful Costa Rica!  Well, because we flew here last night.  But we landed after dark, so our first really good look at the country was in the morning sun.  Out the airport hotel window at a blue-grey tanager by the pool area!  What a great beginning!

We had a good breakfast and started the long ride to the hotel, stopping at crocodile bridge and at someone's yard where these macaws were chowing down.

scarlet macaw

Then on the way in to the hotel we also saw one squirrel monkey and some aracari, and then headed to our room.  WOW!  What an incredible room!  I mean, the room is exactly as expected (we've been here before) but the balcony - it's *so* *incredible*!!!  While I was exploring it, our friends came out onto their balcony so we were chatting.  And I happened to notice we had company!

sloth

This was getting better and better!



I did spend a couple of hours on the balcony while Jack napped, and had my first look at this yellow warbler who was a regular.
yellow warbler

And got to see these honey creepers, who we didn't see here again.

What a joy to be back!

red-legged honey creeper